Live in Edinburgh This Week – 22nd February 2009
This week I will finish the live videos for Ten Tracks and eagleowl, to go with the Rob St. John ones here:
In other news, the lineup for the Fence Collective’s annual liver-bothering get together has been announced, and it’s fucking superb:
* KING CREOSOTE * MALCOLM MIDDLETON * EAGLEOWL * ROB ST JOHN * SLOW CLUB * BURNS UNIT * THE PICTISH TRAIL * THINGS IN HERDS * CANDYTHIEF * EMMA POLLOCK * JAMES YORKSTON * DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON * MEURSAULT * DE ROSA * FOXFACE * THE RED WELL * ROZI PLAIN * RACHAEL DADD * WIG SMITH * ICHI * FOUND * ART PEDRO * ADEM * KID CANAVERAL * SO COW * WITHERED HAND * HMS GINAFORE * LITTLE PEBBLE * MICHAEL JOHNSTON * KARINE POLWART * ADRIAN CROWLEY * PLAYER PIANO * ZIGGY CAMPBELL * STEVEN CRACKNELL (MEMORY BAND) * ANIMAL MAGIC TRICKS * HARDSPARROW * VIKING MOSES * EXPEDITION GUIDE * MELANCHOLICS ANONYMOUSE * GOLDEN GHOST * COME IN TOKYO * ONTHEFLY * LOVE.STOP.REPEAT * WIQWAR * ENGLISH BORE * EMILY SCOTT * THE PHANTOM BAND * LITTLE RAY * DOUG JOHNSTONE * WILL HODGKINSON * STRIKE THE COLOURS * GEORGE THOMAS * MARTIN JOHN HENRY * MARINA & THE DIAMONDS * OLO WORMS * VIVA STEREO * GUMMI BAKO * DJ DOMINIC * BOYWONDER * THE HAND * INSPECTOR TAPEHEAD * JAKE FLOWERS * PANDA SU * FRANÇOIS * THE CHEEK * JOHN B MCKENNA * JONNIE COMMON * DOOGIE PAUL * PETER GREENWOOD *
Any suggestions for people I should particularly make time to interview and get a bit of live footage from? Not Found or the Pictish Trail, because of approaching Toad Sessions, and I won’t be interviewing Meursault obviously, although I will try and get some live video of them. Tickets here – I’d recommend going if you possibly can.
Wednesday 25th February 2009: Come On Gang SXSW Fundraiser at the Wee Red Bar.
Come On Gang are one of several Scottish bands who are facing the considerable bill of dragging their arses out to SXSW this year, and will be holding a bit of a fundraiser to help cover the costs. They are punky, poppy and brash and I haven’t seen them play for ages. This will also be a chance to catch fellow Edinburgh indie-poppers Cancel the Astronauts. Indie pop (which is probably not quite the right term for these bands, but bear with me) is actually a significantly neglected genre in this city, what with the recent rise of all these indie-folksters so it’s about time I went to something where they wield their guitars with a bit of bite for a change.
Come On Gang – Fortune Favours the Brave
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Thursday 26th February 2009: Withered Hand, The Travelling Band & the Set Up play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.
Withered Hand are, basically, fucking brilliant. It’s confrontational punk-folk, although the punk side comes from the attitude and the delivery, rather than the instrumentation. Nevertheless, if you want to be told that “a hard-on doesn’t mean you’re in love” with some force, then you really have to see this band.
Withered Hand – Hard On
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Thursday 26th February 2009: Little Pebble, Son of Thom, Emily Scott & Dan Haywood’s New Hawks play the inaugural Leith Tape Club, upstairs at the IsoBar.
This gig has sold out, I’m afraid, so unless you’re going already, you’re stuffed. I thought it was worth bringing to your attention anyway, though, because Little Pebble (one of Edinburgh’s most under-rated and neglected live performers, including, embarrassingly, by myself) is going to be putting these nights on on a regular basis and they look like they’re going to be really good.
Little Pebble – Hold That Thought
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Friday 27th February 2009: Flowers of Hell, Wounded Knee & eagleowl at the Wee Red Bar.
This is a Benbecula Records night which looks like it will be showcasing their signature style of experimental, ambient music infused with sensibilities of both the folk and electronic persuasions. Wounded Knee might be this city’s foremost loop pedal black belt, and has a new record approaching soon, so if you want to hear his new material then I would guess that this is likely to be a good chance to do so.
Flowers of Hell – The Strength of String
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Saturday 28th February 2009: Found, the Joe Acheson Quartet & Emily Scott at the Bowery.
Found will make their Bowery debut this week, in another gig that is being put on in association with Ten Tracks, as part of their fundraising efforts for their own SXSW adventure. Come. That is an order. Advance tickets can be bought here.
Found – Closed Time Like Loops
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That’ll probably do for the Homegame, won’t it?
What will do what?
The line-up. Will do.
It is, as you say, perfectly acceptable.
I for one would like to see interviews/performance vids from Things In Herds and James Yorkston, and I think it’s high time you did a Toad Session with Eagleowl.
Agreed.
I was actually agreeing with Matthew, there.
Fortunately, nevertheless, I agree with C&B on the whole, too.
I have a problem with Toad Sessions for eagleowl, Rob, Enfant Bastard and Withered Hand in that it is in grave danger of becoming extremely nepotistic and I am keen to avoid that if I can.
That said, I would do sessions with all four in a heartbeat if it was simply based on musical merit and how much I like the bands in question. The next ones are going to be with Rick Redbeard and with Found, and after that I’m not sure. Alex Cornish and I are going to do one whilst battering our way through a bottle of gin, which should be fun.
You’re right though, I really do have to record those four in particular as soon as I can.
Highlighting great music from your area is not nepotistic at all…..
Well, I could perhaps understand the concern about nepotism, etc., if there was someone else out there who was busy recording intimate live performances of Edinburgh’s finest on high-def video with sparkling sound quality. But unless I’m mistaken you’re the only game in town, and so to my mind it’s got to be all about artistic merit at this early stage of the game. No?
It’s not nepotism if at least part of the reason you know them is through an appreciation of their music, which it is, right? it would be wrong not to have them included I reckon.
Yes, I know what you mean. I am going to try and record all of those bands if I can, although I’ll inevitably also try and sprinkle in some others, just for variety’s sake.
I don’t want to plan too far ahead though, just because that leaves me with very little flexibility. I’ll get the next two done and see where I stand after that.
What you’re doing with these Toad Sessions is really unusually valuable to music fans I think. I live near Washington, DC, a town with a vigorous music scene and several million people living in a 20-mile radius, yet there’s no one ’round here doing anything like what you’re doing for Edinburgh.
Well, C&B, there’s things like Daytrotter and We Shoot Music and La Blogotheque and The Black Cab Sessions, but they seem less focussed on actual discovery, if you know what I mean. I don’t know – it’s a bit beyond amateur blogging though, because it requires at least decent equipment and a lot of time and effort, which rules out a lot of people.
There are other people in Edinburgh starting to spring up though. Off the Beaten Tracks only have one session up, but I like what they’re doing.
I think it’s all in keeping the balance.
I really believe, and I know Matthew does too, that Song, By Toad should never lose its focus on new music in Edinburgh.
However, by including music from elsewhere, Song, By Toad stays relevent in a broader sense, and crucially it allows those of us who live in Edinburgh to see the music scene here in a wider context. We can begin to see where we fit into a larger overall movement.
The other thing of course is time and opportunity. We have to catch the bands from elsewhere as they swing through Edinburgh, and each session takes an awful long time to prepare, record and edit.
Time really is a big, big issue here. I really can’t overstate how wearing it is to stay up until two and three in the morning every night, do a full work day, still go to gigs and then come home and get right back on the computer until three again. I don’t mean to sound like a whingeing martyr, but it really does limit what I can do.
It may be the end of 2009 before I can get all those guys a Toad Session. I know that sounds really crap, but I just don’t have the endurance to do more than one every six weeks or so. Throw in the label, interviews, festivals and a few wild card sessions and it could easily take that long.
with regards to Homegame i reckon you should interview the glorious Viking Moses…..and Adrian Crowley
HOME-FUCKING-GAME!
this line-up makes me all tingley.
think we’ll make a little video document of our homegame experience this year.
besides, everyone needs to know what goes on inside the withered van. i can hold my tongue no longer…the horror, the horror…
yeah yeah Neil, you’re going to homegame i hope you enjoy it, then get foot rot
I thought it was fizzy Ribena that made you go all tingly.
Yes, all those blogs are great. I especially like Daytrotter. But what they lack compared to y’all is that strong local focus. It’s pleasant to plumb the depths of a particular scene, especially when it’s such a vibrant scene.
“It’s pleasant to plumb the depths of a particular scene”
And we certainly do plumb the depths.
Thank you, I’ll be here all week.
I think you should do an interview/session with Things In Herds. Rumour was that they’d split up, andI thought I’d missed my chance of seeing them, so its great to see them on the line-up.
Also, Golden Ghost.
Also also, David Thomas Broughton session. I’d love to see how he would react to performing in front of a camera rather than a live audience.
That would be rather great. Not sure if he’d be up for it – one can but ask though.
Also also also, Adrian Crowley.
I’m going to make a point of seeing De Rosa because at Gimme Shelter they sounded like they might be really good but I was busy getting drunk at that point.
thanks for the video skills.
there’s an interesting dtb video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUH4dHN6IXk
i think you should “do” viking moses. and adrian crowley
De Rosa – nice guys….but music wise did nowt for me
Lucky you’re not going then really, isn’t it?!
jesus……i’m pleased that the fact i’m not going pleases so many people…..tho i have been the last 2 years and didn’t see any of you fuckers there!!! well apart from Neil Bart Rob and Toad last year…
olo worms…..interview them!!!
For the record I am disappointed I won’t see you there, sincerely.
That’s not going to stop me taking the piss a wee bit though!!
for the record….i’m fucking gutted……the people are great…..the music is even better…..it feels like one big early spring hug….and i’m going to a fucking wedding of someone i’ve never fucking met!!!! fucking hell!!!
i have to say i think de rosa are THE most under-rated bands in scotland right now. they write such beautifully crafted songs that still manage to blow your socks off. if anyone doesnt yet have a ticket for sneaky petes i thouroughly recommend they do so. cannot wit for the homegame, i missed last year and the jealousy was to hard to bear.
these videos are great…really do rob and band justice.
we’re all sorry you can’t make it tom…you burly, beardy face will be sorely missed.
x
my spelling was really bad in that post. sorry.
Oh, just for the record, the Gillyflowers are playing on Wednesday night at Cab Volt in Edinburgh. And btw, Matthew, has anyone from the List been in touch with you about an article on record labels in Scotland? I spoke to someone yesterday and told him he should be in touch with you as well…
The Phantom Band. Would certainly like to know what drives the fusion behind the seemingly analogue & the acoustic.
I was just farting around myspace and saw that The Red Well are playing at your Henry’s Cellar Bar on Saturday, February 28. Haven’t heard much mention of them on S,bT but from the myspace player they sound quite good. And they’re in the Fence Collective I see.
Frankly, I am not a massive fan of De Rosa, The Phantom Band or The Red Well. They all seem very popular with people whose music taste I respect, but for some reason they don’t tickle my personal tastebuds.
Or earbuds.
Or whatever.
i saw the red well a couple of years ago and quite frankly they were utter shite….but i have since heard some recorded stuff and they have improved greatly
phantom band…..album of the year so far…
I heard a bit of The Red Well that Limbo night at the Voodoo Rooms last year when they were on the same bill as Sparrow & The Workshop and Meursault.
I don’t recall them blowing my skirt up that night, but I’ll keep an open mind until I’ve paid them a bit more attention.
These videos are the best thing I’ve ever seen. I think this is the best band in the world.
More please.
Yeah, I’d say the same. I don’t really know any of those three bands well enough to be making proclamations just yet.
I am also not De Rosa’s biggest fan. Michaels always telling me about how good they are but when they played rubix I wasn’t really that into them. That said Michael also put them on in the car and I did quite like it.
I’m sorry, this is the worst fucking post ever and has really shown me to be the worlds biggest fucking walking contradiction.
Homegame though eh, fucking boss!
there are quite a lot of names on the line up i havent heard before but i guess thats the magic of the homegame. two years ago i had never heard of barbarossa, the singleman affair or even come in tokyo all of whom ended up being my favourite sets of the year.
Barbarossa were superb, but the Singleman Affair were the highlight for me. I listened to their recordings and they completely failed to capture the live magic though – the energy, the variation of tempo, the dynamism. They should have just released a live record instead. (Yes, fuck you Dylan.)
i agree with you there matthew. i bought the album the same day and listened to it that same night and was a little dissapointing. still great to see a band that im fairly certain i would never have seen if it werent for the homegame. as for de rosa i can see why they are not to everyones taste but i was chuffed to have them close rubix for us and they were all thouroughly nice chaps. dav im going to gring you down until de rosa visit you in your dreams.
I think what I experienced with De Rosa is really the exact opposite of what you and Matthew felt about the Singleman Affair. I remember thinking their recorded music was great and I’ll definetly give it another go but I thought they were a wee bit bland live.
However, everyone else seemed to thoroughly enjoy it so I’m probably wrong.
i didnt know you were there dav? man! the ammount of times we inhabited the same space before we know each other is slightly scary. did anyone else think the performance by the guy from hochip and green gartside a wee bit embarrassing?
Fate teased you and toyed with you and finally brought you together.
It’s a beautiful thing, really.
“did anyone else think the performance by the guy from hochip and green gartside a wee bit embarrassing?”
I thought it was terrible, in all honesty.
thank you. i thought at the time i was losing my mind.
I certainly was by the end of it. Tearing my bloody hair out, so I was. But then I don’t like Hot Chip or Scritti bleedin’ Politti, so I guess the odds were always against me liking them.
see im a big fan of hot chip. it really was a tragedy. those shorts!
I’ve been trying to figure out what you lot are actually talking about and not reaching any satisfactory conclusions..
Hot Chip? Green Gartside from Scritti Politti? Shorts?!
Frankly, whatever it is, it sounds terrifying.
Green Gartside from Scritti Politti played a set at last year’s Homegame with Alexis from Hot Chip. Amongst the people on this thread, the consensus appears to be that it was awful. Mr. Gartside also wore crap shorts during this performance, which made they whole experience even more painful.
Does that clear things up a little?
Regrettably, it does.
i didn’t see that…..didn’t sound to appealing to say the least
No, it was worse than you’re thinking.
I fucking hate Scritti Politti. Always have. Waste of a good band name.
Anyhow, here’s a vid of part of The Red Well’s performance at last year’s Homegame. I think they sound great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsX5ICLicnw
On the subject of talking at gigs, I nearly got my head kicked in when I was at Bestival a couple of years back. Scritti Politti were playing I was waiting for the band on after them, and everything was running late. I was absolutely hammered and very impatient and explaining to everyone around me – all there to see the band, obviously – how they were absolute shit and had no tunes. Once or twice I even shouted out ‘boooring’ in the quiet bits.
Needless to say, it is not an episode which I look back on with a lot of pride.
Why I am not finding it hard to picture this?
yeah….toad doesn’t normally need to talk for someone to wanna hit him
If I’d been at a Meursault gig doing that I think I would have beaten myself to a bloody pulp. If you, er, know what I mean.
i beat myself all the time whilst looking at Neil
Didn’t Withered Hand write a song about that?
This conversation’s certainly taken an unexpected tangent.
jesus…fucking…christ. stay the fuck away from me you shower of perverts.
i’d like to contribute to this post but i’ve never been to homegame so have nothing to say other than the line up looks good.
Well it’s very child-friendly, so might be worth considering for next year. Close to home, not staying in tents, great lineup, lots of friends around to babysit for a bit if you want to go and see something. Could do a lot worse.
Matthew,
has anyone ever told you that you can be really weird some times?
What,in suggesting that Euan would be insane enough to leave his newborn in the care of any of us fuckwits? I admit, that was a rather wild suggestion. He’d be an alcoholic, womanising chain-smoker the time he got home.
Or at least, he would if I had anything to do with it…
hey you shower of perverts,
just to say, the original song ‘hard on’ is from the excellent album ‘pretty mouth’ by charles latham. i play it different from the original of course, in a way that makes sense to me, but the guy is definitely worth a post of his own. genius modern folk songs. what say you, matthew?
< link on the left to his space.
Charles Latham worte a song about beating himself off whilst looking at Neil….fucking hell!!!
http://www.myspace.com/sircharleslatham
I have the album, actually. Haven’t given it a proper listen yet though, shame on me.
I’m not sure which one of you looking after Roddy scares me most!
but I take your point. ATP also sounds like a good festival for kids with the cabins and stuff. Usually has a top line up as well.
What’s ATP?
All Tomorrow’s Parties
There are 2 festivals I think. 1 line up chosen by the fans and the other curated by a band – last year Explosions in the Sky, this year The Breeders i think.
sounds about right Euan
explosions in the sky’s line up was great. was too late to get tickets though! was gutted.
Where is it held?
Shall I just google it?..
yeah, just google it. held at some butlins holiday camp I think. you can book cabins for like 10 people. sounds good.
Dylan:
http://tinyurl.com/bg5aqo
Matthew,
has anyone ever told you that you can be a cheeky bastard some times?
I love that website.
it has made my day….
Whatever, minger.
interview Viva Stereo…they are a mates of mine and talk a lot of shite..especially when they are out their nut..
They should fit in nicely round here then.
Flights Booked. Hotel Booked. Soooper Doooper tickets purchased. We’re going fucking Home(game)!
Get in there! Ya fuckin beauty!
Small fucking fortune, that, despite BMI Baby flights up costing 4p each way. Real costs (where ‘per journey’ = outward AND inward flights) are: taxes per journey, baggage charge per person/journey, check-in at airport per per person/journey, on-line booking fee per person/journey, + a fucking debit card fee of £10 that you don;t know about until you get to the ‘print confirmation’ page!
Plus the Craw’s tried to pull a fast one, blaming a ‘computer says no’ situation – I was quoted a price per room yesterday & when TWoTH rang & booked today they charged her card almost twice as much PER PERSON! I got on the phone & put on my ‘office’ voice & within 10minutes we’d had the room cost reduced to original quote & we were upgraded to the 4-poster rooms at no extra charge. Result.
Craw’s Nest is a good one – not a great place in itself, but right in the thick of the action.
Damn! I was keeping that a surprise – now you’ve gone and blown it DC!
When do you get into town?
Wednesday 15th, about 11am. We were planning on heading into the city for breakfast, plodding about for a bit until whomever was free for shits, giggles & slammers.
We were then, if the kind offer was still on the table, going to snore, fart & mumble away the early hours in the safe haven of chez Toad until the following morn whereby we awoke, breakfasted, ambled about the city until Dylan arose with a hunger for fun.
I like fun.
I shall book you in for a brief exploration of this notion of – what was it? – “shits, giggles” and er… “slammers” on Wednesday evening after work.
About 6ish.
Good breakfast options in Stockbrdge, actually.
But I did put a close italics HTML thingy in there!
You did now
I was at the Leith Tape club last night and it was reaaly fantastic; great music and a really nice atmosphere. Dan Haywood really stood out; indescribeable without using words like idiosyncratic and Rolf Harris.
I’d love to go to that festival but I’ve never been to Scotland and don’t even know how to pronounce Anstruther. Matthew how do I get there from London? Fly to Glasgow?
Easy – train to Edinburgh, then walk twenty metres to the bus station and get a bus to Anstruther (some of the locals insist on pronouncing it ‘Anster’ but apparently Anstruther is fine. If you actually can make it I really would.
cool thanks, i am recruiting sidekicks and making a plan as we speak. you should start the Song By Toad travel agency.